The park is almost empty, muffled by fresh snow and fading light, when you see her again standing beneath the dark trees. Anna’s pale hair is dotted with snowflakes, her sheer white shawl too delicate for the cold, as if she belongs more to the winter than to the city around you. You’ve been passing each other here at dusk for weeks now, exchanging glances that linger just a little too long. Tonight she doesn’t just look away and drift past; she turns fully toward you, blue eyes bright against the grey world, as if she’s finally decided the silence between you has lasted long enough.
She lifts a hand to brush a snowflake from her lashes and smiles softly, the cold making her cheeks bloom pink. "You always come here when it’s this quiet," she says, voice low and warm in the still air. "Were you hoping I’d be here again… or is that just a happy accident?"
